THE MAN WHO WENT TO TOWN; PAUL ANSAH RELOADED

4th November, 2013 saw the re-launch of Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah’s Going to Town, a selection of newspaper articles he had written from 1991 till his death in June 1993. The event, held at British Council hall saw the likes of Mr. Nhyira Addo of Citi FM , Ms. Joyce Aryee (Chief Executive Officer of The Ghana Chamber of Mines), Mr. Kojo Annan Ankomah (a Legal Practitioner) and Ms. Esther Cobbah (Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications Africa) gracing the occasion. Also in attendance were Prof Kwame Karikari (Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa), Prof Kwesi Yankah (President of Central University College) and Dr. Margaret Amoakohene (Acting Director, School of Communication Studies), just to mention a few. The master of ceremony for the occasion was Mr. Kwame Sefa-Kayi.

It was an honour to have his close friends and associates share their fond memories of this great and illustrious son of our land and regale us with tales of some of his feats – what cut across in all these stories was P.A.V. Ansah being described as a man who stood for truth and justice, abhorred wrong doing and loved his country too much to watch it being destroyed by, in his own words, “political dwarfs, knaves and scoundrels”. It was this passion that “took him to town” to get things off his chest without fear; at a time when speaking the truth or publicly airing an opinion especially one not in favour of the sitting government could cost you your life.

As at 1991 I was unaware of the existence of a newspaper called the Ghanaian Chronicle, let alone Prof. Paul Ansah’s column and it probably would have remained so but for the re-launch of this book which offered me the rare opportunity to get a glimpse of who he was. It is quite sad to note that but for this launch I had no idea who Prof. Paul Ansah was and I can tentatively say I am not alone here. Yes, he has the highest award in journalism (the PAV Ansah Journalist of the Year Award) named after him but for someone who was an advocate for free press and even went further to make his voice heard in any print that would allow him and as an intellectual, refusing to be cowed into a culture of silence, he deserves more than that! Again this brings to fore how we neglect our heroes while over celebrating a few (big six in mind) allowing the rest to be “back benchers” and only bring them up when it suits an occasion, only to be relegated back again to the bench.

Of the numerous stories that were shared about Prof. Ansah, the funniest and yet thought provoking was that of Dr Margaret Amoakohene recounting her days as a student and while working on her thesis, hit a brick wall. Some days later she had a visitor at her hall that turned out to be the good old Prof. Apparently, her days of absence hadn’t gone unnoticed therefore Prof Ansah wanted to see her. In summary when she appeared before him she began to lament about how stressful it was and she had run out of ideas for her paper, to which he replied and I paraphrase: “kuraseni 3dwin d3 degree woton wo guamu a,” to wit, “do you think degrees are for sale in the market place”. Of course he said it light-heartedly without malice but the message he was trying to put across was not lost. In short, success cannot be bought. To be successful one must be prepared to work hard for it and nothing good comes cheap or easy.

For a man who was passionate about excellence and professionalism in journalism he probably must be turning in his grave seeing what journalism has become today; where some journalist and politicians are bedfellows and instead of setting the agenda and keeping government on its toes, they rather allow politicians to dictate to them.

Twenty years after his death the setting up of the Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah (PAVA) Memorial Foundation is a step in the right direction. The foundation seeks to entrench responsible press freedom and excellence in journalism and mass media communication across the continent of Africa. This is a worthy cause that must be given the necessary support.

A cursory look at Ghana today and one might say we have made significant progress; but after twenty years the issues that pertained in the early years of the Fourth Republic that necessitated him “going to town” still continue to happen today! Which leaves you wondering if we have truly as a nation made progress? If Prof. Paul Ansah were to be alive today, I bet he would probably go beyond town – wherever that may be – because as you do know, town is too hot and we have been “advised” accordingly to get our passports and get out if we believe the heat is unbearable.

Going to Town is a must have for every well-meaning Ghanaian as it illustrates that speaking up and criticizing one’s government does not mean we are against it but rather the citizens are very much invested hence Ghana must come first in all matters; and also a reminder that a culture of silence is the surest way for a nation to be destroyed.

In the words of Prof. Paul Archibald Vianney Ansah “if others won’t talk, as for me, I shall not deny myself that right.” What about you?

For more information, please go to www.pavansah.org